West High School was one of five Phoenix Union high schools that were built between 1949 and 1957, the others being Camelback, Carl Hayden, Central, and South Mountain.
[3] The campus was designed by a group of local architects consisting of Lescher & Mahoney, Edward L. Varney, H. H. Green and Edwin Dwight Chenault.
[4] Declining enrollment during the 1980s resulted in the closure of West, along with North High School, Phoenix Union High School, and East High School.
[3] Metro Tech High School, then named Metro Tech Vocational Institute of Phoenix, was opened on the grounds of West High in 1985.
[3] The campus used to have an Olympic-sized swimming pool, but was later filled in.